Solitaire has its own vocabulary — and not knowing it is a quiet tax on every game you play. When a guide says “pack cards onto the tableau” or “vacate a column,” you either know what that means and keep reading, or you stop and guess. This glossary removes that friction. Learn the terms once and every strategy guide, every game description, and every scoring explanation becomes immediately clearer.
All definitions below include an example from a specific game on Card & Puzzle, because abstract definitions only go so far.
Solitaire Board Terms
These are the named regions of a solitaire layout. Most games use some combination of them — knowing which is which is the foundation for everything else.
Tableau — The main playing area. The tableau is the set of columns spread across the center of the board where most of the action happens. Cards are moved, built into sequences, and rearranged here before eventually traveling to the foundations. In Klondike Solitaire, the tableau starts as seven columns ranging from one to seven cards each, with only the bottom card face up. In Spider Solitaire, the tableau is ten columns across a double deck.
Foundation — The target piles where you win the game. Foundations are typically built up from Ace to King in the same suit — one foundation per suit, four foundations total. Getting all 52 cards onto the foundations is the winning condition in Klondike, FreeCell, Spider, and most other standard solitaire games. In Spider, completing a foundation sequence causes it to be removed from the tableau entirely; those eight completions are what win the game.
Stock (Draw Pile) — The face-down reserve of cards not dealt to the tableau at the start. In Klondike, 24 of the 52 cards go to the stock — more than a third of the deck. You draw from the stock one or three cards at a time (see Draw 1 vs Draw 3 for how much that choice matters). In Spider, the stock holds 50 cards and is dealt in ten-card batches directly onto the tableau columns. In Golf Solitaire and TriPeaks Solitaire, the stock is what you draw from when you cannot chain a card from the tableau.
Waste (Discard Pile) — The face-up pile where cards drawn from the stock land. The topmost card of the waste pile is always available to play. In Draw 1 Klondike, only one card sits on top of the waste at any given moment. In Draw 3, three cards are drawn at once, but only the top card is accessible — the other two are visible but blocked. The entire waste pile flips back to become the stock again when the stock runs out. In Golf and TriPeaks, the waste is the single face-up pile you are building onto from the tableau.
Free Cells — Temporary holding spaces unique to FreeCell Solitaire. There are four free cells, each able to hold exactly one card at a time. A card parked in a free cell is removed from the tableau to create space for other moves. The free cells are what make FreeCell a nearly-always-winnable game: they give you four extra degrees of freedom to reorganize the tableau without being permanently stuck. Using all four free cells simultaneously is often a sign that you are in trouble.
Reserve — A separate face-up pile or set of piles dealt at the start that you can draw from during play but cannot build upon. Reserve piles appear in games like Canfield and some Klondike variants. They function differently from the stock — reserve cards are dealt face up and available immediately, but they typically cannot receive cards from the tableau. In most games at Card & Puzzle, the reserve concept is absorbed into the stock/waste system rather than appearing as a separate region.
Peaks — The triangular structure of cards in Pyramid Solitaire and TriPeaks Solitaire. In Pyramid, 28 cards are arranged in a seven-row triangle; a card is accessible only when both cards overlapping it from below have been removed. In TriPeaks, three smaller four-row triangles share a base row — you are dismantling all three peaks simultaneously. The structural constraint of the peaks is the defining mechanic of both games: you cannot simply play any card, only the ones that have been uncovered by removing the cards below them.
Solitaire Card Movement Terms
These terms describe what actually happens when you move cards. Solitaire guides use them constantly, and most are more specific than they sound.
Building — Placing cards onto the tableau in a valid sequence. Building can be ascending (low to high) or descending (high to low) depending on the game. In the foundations of most games, you build ascending within a suit: Ace, 2, 3, all the way to King. On the Klondike tableau, you build descending in alternating colors: a black 9 accepts a red 8. “Building on the tableau” and “building to the foundation” follow different rules — keep that distinction clear when reading strategy guides.
Alternating colors — The rule requiring red-black-red (or black-red-black) sequencing on the tableau. Klondike and FreeCell both use alternating colors for tableau building. A red Queen accepts a black Jack, which accepts a red 10, and so on. This is distinct from same-suit building — alternating colors does not care which specific suit a card is, only whether its color alternates.
Same suit — Building only onto cards of the matching suit. In Spider Solitaire, a fully suited sequence (all 13 cards of one suit in order) is required to complete a foundation. In 2-Suit and 4-Suit Spider, you can move cards of any suit onto a valid rank in the tableau, but only fully suited sequences are removable to the foundation. Same-suit building is also the rule for all foundation piles across every game: Aces through Kings, one suit per pile.
Packing — Adding cards to an existing tableau column to extend a sequence. When a guide says “pack the 7 of diamonds onto the 8 of clubs,” it means placing that card on the column so it continues the descending (and, in Klondike, alternating-color) sequence. Packing is the primary way you access face-down cards in Klondike — to flip a buried card face up, you first have to pack onto the column above it until the buried card is the next one to expose.
Cascading — Moving a group of face-up cards together as a single unit from one tableau column to another. In Klondike, any valid alternating-color descending sequence can be moved as a block. In FreeCell, the number of cards you can cascade at once depends on how many free cells and empty columns you have available — technically you move cards one at a time, but the game (and its interface) allows multi-card moves when sufficient free space exists. In Spider, you can cascade an entire suited sequence as one move, which is essential for reorganizing the tableau in the later stages of a game.
Vacating / Empty column — Clearing a tableau column of all its cards, leaving an empty slot. An empty column is one of the most powerful resources in solitaire. In Klondike, an empty column can receive any King (and the sequence built on it) — it is the only legal destination for a King that is not already on an occupied column. In FreeCell, empty columns dramatically expand how many cards you can cascade in a single sequence. In Spider, empty columns are the primary tool for reorganizing mismatched suits, making them the scarcest and most carefully managed resource in harder difficulty levels.
Solitaire Game State Terms
These terms describe the condition of a game in progress — what is happening at a higher level than individual card moves.
Deal — Either the initial distribution of cards at the start of a game, or the act of drawing cards from the stock during play. “The deal” refers to the starting layout — the particular shuffle and arrangement you are playing. “Dealing from the stock” means drawing. In Spider, stock deals are periodic events that add new cards to the tableau when you have exhausted your current options. Whether a deal is winnable or not is determined by the initial shuffle — some arrangements simply cannot be solved regardless of play quality.
Pass — One complete cycle through the stock pile. When you draw through all the stock cards and flip the waste pile back over, that constitutes one pass. In Draw 1 Klondike with a 24-card stock, one pass gives you 24 chances to play stock cards. In Draw 3, one pass gives you eight flips (each revealing three cards). The number of passes available in a game matters: some solitaire variants limit you to one or three passes total, which dramatically affects strategy. Card & Puzzle’s Klondike has no pass limit.
Shuffle — In standard solitaire, the initial randomization of the deck before dealing. In Addiction 7, however, “shuffle” has a specific in-game meaning: a button you can press to redistribute all non-Ace, non-fixed cards randomly back into the grid. Addiction 7 allows two shuffles per game, and using them wisely is central to the strategy. A poorly timed shuffle can undo progress; a well-timed one can break open a stuck position.
Blocked / Stuck — The state where no legal moves remain available in the current position. Being blocked is not always permanent — drawing from the stock may provide new options — but if the stock is empty and no moves are possible on the tableau, the game is over. In FreeCell, you can almost always avoid being blocked with correct play; the game is rarely blocked through bad luck rather than bad decisions. In Klondike Turn 3, getting blocked with critical cards buried in the waste pile is a common and frustrating dead end.
Winnable / Unwinnable deal — Whether a given shuffle can theoretically be solved with perfect play. A deal’s winnability is fixed the moment the deck is shuffled — no amount of skill converts an unwinnable deal into a win. However, most losses in practice are not from unwinnable deals; they are from winnable deals played incorrectly. At Card & Puzzle, every game deals winnable hands by default — guaranteed to have a solution — so every loss is skill feedback, not bad luck. You can opt into a random deal when starting a new game if you prefer the traditional experience. See Is Every Game of Solitaire Winnable? for win rate data across all games. FreeCell is the notable outlier: only one deal in Microsoft’s original numbered set is confirmed unwinnable, meaning nearly every loss is a strategic error, not a bad shuffle.
Solitaire Scoring Terms
Understanding these terms makes how solitaire scoring works immediately clearer — and explains why experienced players make moves that initially look counterproductive.
Streak / Chain / Combo — A sequence of consecutive card plays without drawing from the stock. In TriPeaks Solitaire, the streak is the most important scoring mechanic: each successive card you play from the tableau increases your streak multiplier, and breaking the streak by drawing from the stock resets it to zero. A 12-card unbroken chain is worth dramatically more than 12 individual plays with stock draws between them. In Golf Solitaire, a chain of sequentially ranked cards (wrapping from Ace to King or vice versa in some variants) is how you clear the board efficiently. Preserving your streak is often worth skipping an otherwise playable card.
Time bonus — Additional points awarded for completing a game quickly. Klondike, FreeCell, Pyramid, Golf, and TriPeaks all include a time bonus for wins. In Klondike and FreeCell, the formula is 700,000 divided by your completion time in seconds. In Golf, Pyramid, and TriPeaks, the bonus scales linearly from a maximum down to zero based on how long the game took. The time bonus only applies when you win — losing quickly earns nothing. For fast players, the time bonus frequently exceeds the base move score.
Vegas scoring — A dollar-based scoring system for Klondike that treats the game as a gambling simulation. You start with a −$52 buy-in (one dollar per card) and earn +$5 for every card you move to a foundation. A perfect game — all 52 cards to the foundations — returns $260, for a net profit of $208. Most players lose money under Vegas scoring, which is exactly the design intent: it replicates the casino economics that made Klondike attractive to house operators. There is no partial credit, no time bonus, no elegance points — you profit or you do not.
Solitaire Game Type Terms
These terms categorize entire games or variants rather than individual mechanics. They appear constantly in solitaire comparisons and guides.
Open / Closed — Whether all cards are visible from the start. An open game deals every card face up so you have complete information. FreeCell is the most prominent open solitaire game — all 52 cards are face up in the tableau from the first move. A closed game deals some or all cards face down, revealing them only when uncovered. Klondike is partially closed: the top card of each tableau column is face up, but the cards beneath are face down until uncovered through play. Yukon Solitaire is also partially closed. The open/closed distinction is central to difficulty: in an open game, every loss is a planning failure; in a closed game, hidden cards introduce genuine uncertainty that even perfect play cannot eliminate.
Single deck / Double deck — How many standard 52-card decks are used. Most solitaire games are single-deck (52 cards). Spider Solitaire is double-deck (104 cards), which is why the tableau is ten columns wide and foundations require eight completed sequences instead of four. TriPeaks uses a single deck but deals only 52 cards across the peaks and stock, making every card meaningful. Double-deck games are generally longer and involve more complex tableau states simply because there is twice the material to manage.
Draw 1 / Draw 3 (Turn 1 / Turn 3) — The two stock-dealing modes in Klondike Solitaire. In Draw 1 (Turn 1), one card flips from the stock at a time, giving you direct access to every stock card as you cycle through. In Draw 3 (Turn 3), three cards flip at once, but only the top card is playable — the other two are blocked until the card above them moves. Draw 3 reduces stock accessibility to roughly 33% per pass and cuts practical win rates from ~30–35% down to ~10–15%. The full comparison is in Draw 1 vs Draw 3. Both modes are available from the Klondike settings — switching between them mid-session is the fastest way to feel how much the rule changes the game.